Gardner herrick



NfPEfERS, HOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D, C.

GARDNER HERRICK, OF ALBION, MsbCHGVAN.

Letters Patent No. 102,262, dated April 26, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN ACUPUNCTRE INSTRUMENTS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the came.

To all whom it may concem:

puncture Instruments, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description, the accompanying drawings marked thereon, in whioh- A Figure l is a central longitudinal section of the acupuncture instrument, with the guard-cover removed and the lancets proti'nded ready for use.

Figure 2, a similar section, the lancets being retracted within the case, and the guard-cover screwed on.

Figure 3 is a tranverse section in the line x; and

Figure 4, an enlarged elevation of a lancet and feedstrp, with broken, sections of other parts.

Similar letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

My invention Arelates to improvements in instruments employed in acupuncture-in which medicated fluids are introduced intopunctures or wounds made by lancets; and

It consists in the employment of lancets in combination with converging feeding-strips, the latter not extending to the points of the lancets, so that the feed# strips will not enter the wounds, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

A represents acylindrical case, provided with a cap, C, screwed on its upper end, and having a central bearing for the journal 7' of a thumb-screw, D,

'nis a nut, secured against a projecting shoulder of the journal j, so as to make a close connection with the shoulder of the thumb-screw, to prevent longitudinal play.

B is the guard-cover or cap, provided wit-h au inside packing, said cover being screwed on the lower end of the cylindrical case to protect the lancet points, and prevent the waste of uid when the instrument is not in use.

P is a piston or plunger, in which the upper ends of the lancets A1I tare cast or otherwise secured, and to which a. piston-rod or shank is attached.

This shank has a centrally-threaded bore, in which the -thumb-screw D works, moving the piston-head with its attached lancets longitudinally back and forth in the cylindrical case.

S S are guide-strips within the case, fitting into corresponding grooves in the piston-head, so that the latter is forced to move rectilinearly in the saine fixed line' in the cylindrical case A.

a is a layer of felt or other suitable material, and

e is a layer of rubber or other elastic substance, placed over and in contact with'the felt layer a. v

ff are the fe q-strips,one opposite each lancet.

reference being had to and lett-ers of reference These feeding-strips are set iu the piston-head, and converge toward the lancets, thel medicated uid being held between said fecding-str1ps and the lauf cets.

The feediiig-strips do not extend to the points of' the lancets, but come in contact with them at or about points coincident with the line of' contact of the layers a and c in the case., so as not to enter the wounds or pass out of the cylindrical case, aud thefunction of the feeding-strips is to press out on one side the substance ct' the layer a (when the lancet points have been protiuded by turning the thumb-screw) beyond the lower end of the case, so as to permit the inedicated fluid in the chamber toy tiow through thel intervening space and down the lancets to their points, and into 'the wounds.

H is a hole, through which the medicated iiuid is introduced into the cylindrical case, and the layers a and e maybe pushed out of the case when necessary by inserting a wire through a small hole, 7i, in the end of the case, plugs being afterward inserted.

' IVhen the piston-head has been drawn back by a reverse motion, and the ends ol" the feeding-strips withdrawn from the felt layer, the substance of that layer will spring back closely around the lancet, and prevent any further flow of the fluid. By this arrangement ot' parts, the ends of the laucet may be thoroughly cleaned.

The parts of the instrument subjected to the action of the medicated liquor should be nou-corrosive.

Hollow lancets or at-bladed ones, which 'convergetogether at the points of penetration, are unsafe, for it is so difficult to clean v'them thoroughly after use, that this duty is generally neglected.

The danger of not being` able to clean them thoronghly is ot' two kinds, oneis corrosion, and the other is that the virus of malignant disease, such as syphilis, 85e., may lodge in the internal angle at the point of contact between the blades in the same manner that ink lodges in a drawing-pen, and if not removed will communicate disease when again used.

By my arrangement of parts these difiiculties are entirely obviatcd.

Having thus fully described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The lancets i fi, in combination with the converging feeding-strips f j, the latter not extending to the points of the lancets, and hence not entering the wounds, as set forth.

GARDNER HERRICK.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK Hnmimvf 

